Vermaelen is pleased with the progress the team have made during pre-season and is confident they can hit the ground running.

"The squad looks strong," he told Arsenal Player. "There are not a lot of injuries at the moment, apart from Bacary [Sagna] and Jack [Wilshere] - for the rest it looks good.

"Everyone looks fit and sharp and it is good that we have so many new players as well.

"At the beginning of last season I was injured with the same problem I had before. For the rest of the season I played quite a lot of games so I was quite pleased with that, but of course I want to do better this year. I want to perform better as well."